Mail box



July 19, 192

s. c. SHERRY MAIL 80X Filed April 2. 1924 Patented July 19, 1927.

UNITED STATES,

rarest *o -rrres,

8015 G. SHERRY, OFENGLEWOOI NEWJERSEY ma non This, invention relatesto mail receptacles, and more: especially torural mail boxes.

It is the: purposev t this inventionto. pro vide a: mail box, which will be especially suited to the conditions prevailing,upon rural free delivery routes.-

It is alsoan object of: thisinvention. to provide? a: mail box supplying; in; itself means for the reception of letters and packages,

whether of; such fornr as to pass throu h-the,

ordinary mail slot or requiring a much arger,

open n p A further purpose of this lHVGIltlOII is to provide a mail box having provision for re taining money to pay for. postage,.and-s1gnal: means: for indicating whenmail has been.- dcposited-in'thebox. i

It is the especial objectof. this invention to pnovide all of the foregoing advantages m a single structure,constructed from sheet metal and ableto withstand the abuse to which such receptacles are subjected.

I 11 the accompanying drawings and in the appended description like. numerals; have beem employed t0v indicate like parts.

Fig. 1. is an. elevation of the complete de? vice witln the signal theneot at a raisedlposb tionh 1 Figure 2 is across-sectional view of the device shown: in: Figure: 1, taken vertically therethrough it.

Figure 3, shows a vice. t

Figulle' ShQWS ill ragmentary detail a:

detail of" the signal do;

, portion ot the mail slot and door of thedevice: shown in Figure 1. I

Figure 5, is a sectional view 0t the device for the retention of coins which is shown in: Figure 2, and is taken upon line 5-5 thereof. a

Referring to the, elevation. shown in Fig-- ure 1, the box body is.) indicated? by the; nu-

meral llO, the front cover or door by the numeral 12, .the top cover or cap by the numeral 14 and the signal flag by the numeral 16.

Referring to Figure 2, it will be seen that the box body is substantially rectangular in form, having a closed back, bottom, sides and a front having an opening therein, normally closed by the door 12, which is here shown partially open. This door 12 will be seen to consist of a flat front portion, havin an opening 20, near its upper end, whie provides the mail slot for the reception of the letters and the like. Slot 20 is normally keeping the elementsffromthe interior of the box and serve in parttoretainthe door 12c closed; Door 12 isturther retained by means of the latch, member 26,. which engages the body 10 above'the front opening therein. Door, 12 is also provided! with an outwardly turnedhasp. portion 28,, which cooperateswith a second haspriportion130, upon the peaked cover 1.4.. Cover 14 is pivoted to box 10'throughsuch, means asthe rivets32. It will be understood that cover 14 may be raised; to insert a parcel or large envelope through the top oat thebox, if such cannot be readily inserted through the door 12. The cooperating hasps; 3,0"and 2 8v permit a s ngle Pad o to e u ed i the ox s t lockedandalso provides for the insertion andiiremoval ot packages or letters of the maximum size without folding or distortion.

The rural free delivery man; is often the only post oifice facility which the country dweller has access to. Fromhimv he must purchase-his stamps and it is common practiee. to leave acoin with! the letter which is to be collected inlieu eta stamp. The carnier supplying the stamp and afiixingit. to

the letter; Such/coins often become: lost or removed by mproper persons; for the protection-of. such: coinssl providea coin saie36 shown in Figure 2, and in greater detail in Figure 5.

The coin safe 36 consists of an outwardly inclined portion 38 affixed to the box side 10*, by such means as the rivet '39. Portion 38 is provided with side flanges 41, which serve to retain the coin 42 and also as hinge points for the pins 44, which pivot the safe lid 45. The lid 45 is provided with an inwardly turned portion 46, having a V downwardlyturned lip 47. When the safe 36 is mounted as is shown in Figure '2, directly Within the door 12, it is but of the reach of any improperly accredited persons, and is at the same time readily accessible to the mail carrier. The carrier is often obliged to employ ,only'onehand in manip ulating the box and the safe 36 is especially designed for manipulation without the employment of both hands and without the removal of. gloves, it such are worn. To release the coin it is merely necessary to engage the lip 47 with a portion of the hand and to move the lid 45 outwardly to the position indicated by the dotted lines of Figure 5. The coin '42 will drop downward into the palm of the hand below.

Referring to the signal (best seen in Figure a flag 16 is preferably provided with a forwardly extending portion 16, and with a transversely extended portion 16". Flag 16 is supported by such means as a staff 50, of flat sheet metal, having a slot 51 adjacent its lower end and engaging a pin 52, in a bearing member 53, afiixed to the box side adjacent its top. Bearing member 53 may be provided with a closed back and as will be seen from Figure 3, it is necessary to first raise statt upwardly so that it clears the back of bearing 53 before it may be turned to the horizontal, or non-indicating, posit-ion indicated by the dotted lines 55. With re gard to the construction of bearing 53, it may be said that it is not essential that this bearing have an entirely closed back; a similar purpose may be accomplished by the two rivets 57, which engage the staff 50 to retain it vertical or horizontal at the will of the manipulator. This flag structure is espe cially suited to the exposed condition which such a device must occupy. It will be seen that the wind, or a chance blow, cannot eflect the setting of the flag and'that a correct indication will be given regardless of the ele ments.

A further problem which is met in the erection of such mail boxes lies in so securing the box to a post or other supporting structure that it will remain rigid and unaffected by the natural deterioration of the post. I have furnished a solution of this problem by the provision of a three sided member 60 secured to the rear of box 10 by means of rivets 61. This member 60 is preferably of flexible sheet metal and is adapted to embrace the top and sides of a post 63 and to be secured thereto by means of screws or the like inserted through the holes 64. It will benoted that this member 60 at once provides for securing the box to the post and for the protection of the end and top of the support.

It will be evident that the hereinbefore disclosed invention provides means which are at once simple, effective, and economical, and that the structure presented is especially adapted for the purposes for which it is designed, and oflers no complicated structure, liable to become inoperative due to lack of attention or maintenance. Manitestly, changes andmodifications may be made in the structure or in the elements thereof without departing from the spirit of my invention or from the scope of the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention. what I claim is new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is as follows:

In a mail box receptacle for coins, a body part having an outwardly inclined portion provided with side flanges projecting outwardly therefrom, a substantially flat section adjacent to and above said inclined portion, and a further portion at the end of said inclined portion and at substantially right angles to said flat section, said flat section being provided with receptacle holder reception means, said further portion serving to space the lower end of said inclined portion from the surface upon which the receptacle is held, said body part being provided with a lid part having a body portion provided with inwardly turned flanges on three sides and with an extension lip projecting from one of said flanges to provide a handle the other said flanges being perforated adjacent their innermost-edges to engage a hinge pin projecting through the outermost edges of the flanges on said. body part so that the lid is normally held by its own weight over said body portion to form a complete coin receptacle which will discharge upon pulling said lid lip.

Signed at New York in the county of- New York and State of New York this 29th day of March, A. D. 1924.

SOL C. SHERRY. 

